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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25208503">It is all because of Wong, really...</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdsLover/pseuds/NerdsLover'>NerdsLover</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Attempt at Humor, BAMF Tony Stark, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, FRIDAY knows better, Fluff, M/M, Modeling, Mutual Pining, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Precious Peter Parker, Wong is a Good Bro (Marvel)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:55:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,969</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25208503</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerdsLover/pseuds/NerdsLover</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sorcerers don’t have many resources, some of them have a regular work besides their magical activities, but, sometimes, it’s not enough to pay the bills. Wong may have an idea, never told it was a good one...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tony Stark/Stephen Strange</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>125</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>220</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>IronStrange Bingo 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>SO. I just wanted to partake in the IronStrange Bingo, really... It was just supposed to be Stephen modelling and Tony drooling over him and now it's 8K+ of Wong wanting to kill everyone and then himself ^^"</p><p>Fill for my IronStrange Bingo card: Wong - Peter - H/C.</p><p>I'm not a native, please, forgive my mistakes. I hope you will enjoy it &lt;3</p><p>You can find me <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nerdslover/?igshid=zy2tclie696d/">here</a> and come make requests, asking questions or just fangirling with me =D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>So far, Stephen had had a good day. He had gotten up early to study a spell before heading out to Stark Tower, where he had sparred with some of the Avengers, as he had promised he would do from time to time. Then, Tony has invited him in his lab to show him some of his last experiments and they had had lunch together when their stomach had been too loud to be ignored anymore. Tony Stark had a great mind and a equally great heart; and he had that twisted sense of humour Stephen adored. A conversation - serious or not - with him was always a delight.</p><p>So, when he came back to the Sanctum, yes, Stephen was in a good mood. It wouldn’t last. As soon as he had entered the kitchen to make some tea, Wong went across him:</p><p> </p><p>“Master Gasun visited us, today.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>No “Good afternoon”, no teasing about my visit to Stark Tower... Bad news.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry I missed him, how is he?”</p><p> </p><p>“Bad. He doesn’t know how long he will still be able to keep the Sanctum of Hanoï.”</p><p> </p><p>Wong’s face hadn’t changed while saying it, no frown, no wince... Maybe the situation wasn’t too terrible...</p><p> </p><p>“Why?”</p><p> </p><p>“Because the bailiffs come to the Sanctum every other week to tell him to pay his outstanding electricity invoices. The Sanctum of Hanoï is too expensive to maintain on his own funds.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ah.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“I understand, I’ll visit him myself tomorrow and give him some money. Gasun is a great Master, I’ll open the treasure of Kamar-Taj for him. He should have told us he was in a difficult situation earlier, we would have helped him.”</p><p> </p><p>“Stephen...” Stephen knew this tone of voice... Quiet, sorry; far from Wong’s usual sassiness. “The treasure of Kamar-Taj is almost empty, sorcerers from there are just able to keep it afloat enough to purchase their food...”</p><p> </p><p>“What?!” How could Kamar-Taj be this poor? “Wait, wait, how is it possible? Where did all the money go? Who is the paymaster?”</p><p> </p><p>Wong had a sad smile before answering “I am the paymaster of Kamar-Taj; library and cash management come together, it’s why I can assure you we’re bankrupt. All the money went to maintain the main Sanctum, to feed our sorcerers and to install the Internet twenty years ago.”</p><p> </p><p>“To install the... Ok, well, the maintenance still needs to be assured, the sorcerers to eat and supressing the Internet won’t give us any more money. We need to find a solution.”</p><p> </p><p>The librarian leaned back on the kitchen counter, looking up. Then, the ghost of a half-smile pass on his face. He had an idea.</p><p> </p><p>“You know... Some sorcerers have... How could I tell it? A second job. They’re usually the ones who haven’t a Sanctum to guard, though, it would be too much work, but...”</p><p> </p><p>“But what?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well... Since I’m almost always here, the New-York Sanctum is safe, but since I also have to often go to Kamar-Taj for the Library, I can’t take another job myself but... Maybe you could?”</p><p> </p><p>The right answer would have been <strong><em>no</em></strong>, between his Sorcerer Supreme duties, the spells to learn, the new recruits to train, the Sanctum to keep, the meetings and sparring sessions with the Avengers, Stephen surely had no time for another job.</p><p> </p><p>“Ok. I can’t possibly be a surgeon again, but I could phone to Christine tomorrow in the morning and ask her if Metro General need a consultant, or something.”</p><p> </p><p>It stung to say such a thing, to admit he would never be a neurosurgeon again. But people he had vowed to lead and protect needed him. It wasn’t about him, it was about them and about making sure they were in the best conditions to help him to protect the World. Stephen had learned his lesson.</p><p> </p><p>The half-smile was back again on Wong’s lips when he spoke.</p><p> </p><p>“It would be very generous of you, but a consultant’s pay would never be sufficient. I have another idea but... I’m afraid you won’t agree.”</p><p> </p><p>Hell, since when was Wong concerned by Stephen’s agreement to anything?!</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t you dare speak about making balloons animals! Stark would be far too pleased!”</p><p> </p><p>The situation was serious, yeah, but Stephen couldn’t help the fond smile escaping him. Yes, Tony would never stop laughing if he spotted Stephen doing such a thing. On second thought, maybe it wasn’t a bad idea...</p><p> </p><p>“No, no, see: I happen to have a cousin, who has a wife, who has an aunt, who herself has a nephew who has a brother-in-law who’s also my nephew, but on the other side of the family, who owns a modelling agency, here in New-York. Maybe I could call him and ask him if he could engage you, as a favour?”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Wait, what? A cousin who has a wife whom her aunt has a nephew who...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Stephen, crossed eyes, wasn’t answering; so Wong deliver his last blow.</p><p> </p><p>“Mmmh, yes, I knew you wouldn’t agree... Well, I assume I will have to tell to Master Gasun to give up on the Hanoï Sanctum. And you will have to discharge several sorcerers from Kamar-Taj, I can’t keep feeding them all, maybe we could take one or two of them with us? I’ll phone to Master Kyoko to see if he can take one of them as well, Beijing Sanctum is a little less poor than...”</p><p> </p><p>But Stephen was back from his family tree nightmare and interrupted him.</p><p> </p><p>“No, no, no, it’s OK, call your nephew. If it is what must be done to rescue our fellows, I’ll do it, it’s not a problem. And I’m sure it’s hardly difficult to pose for some pictures from time to time, it won’t kill me. It’s Ok.”</p><p> </p><p>Most people would have thought Stephen would never ever agree to enter a modelling agency, but Wong wasn’t “most people”. Most people had never forgotten Doctor Strange had been an arrogant and selfish asshole. But they keep forgetting he had also willingly died billions of times to save the Earth from the Dark Dimension. Wong didn’t.</p><p> </p><p>And Stephen wasn’t finished: “I will visit Master Gasun tomorrow, still.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll give him our monthly Internet budget: we don’t absolutely need Internet here if we have it at Kamar-Taj, do we? It won’t be a lot, but I hope it will be sufficient to help him until my first pay check.”</p><p> </p><p>From this moment, never tell Wong Stephen Strange is a selfish bastard if you don’t want to endure an endless fall until your dying day.</p><p>***</p><p>
  <a href="https://i-m-sherlocked-twice.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“FRIDAY! You will never believe what I’ll show you! Lead me to Mr. Stark asap, please and schedule an appointment to his dentist! He’ll never be able to pick his jaw from the floor!”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for the support you showed me! I can't believe how much you're excited to read what comes next, it's awesome!</p><p>I have to be honest and warn you: I'm a student at University, so the academic year is never really over for me, I always have a lot of work to do, so I will update once a week. It's not much, but it's a promise: once a week, never less, on Friday or Saturday, never later, until the end.</p><p>Here comes the second chapter, I hope you will enjoy it and that you will be able to see the picture in the middle, if not, please warn me, the chapter doesn't have much sense without it ^^"</p><p>You can find me <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nerdslover/?igshid=zy2tclie696d/">here</a> and come make requests, asking questions or just fangirling with me =D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Stark Tower was under the “Supreme Tantrum” protocol. It wasn’t an official protocol per se, but one FRIDAY had created herself for when her Boss was in a particularly sour mood. This special protocol included a more frequent coffee delivery to the Tower, a special playlist including all the Boss’ favourite AC/DC, Queen, Black Sabbath and Aerosmith songs, the absolute ban of anything that would look even vaguely alcoholic and the interdiction for everybody to come down to the lab; except for Peter - of course, the situation would become even worse if the Boss was unable to spend time with the Spiderling - and Doctor Strange. But, if Peter was used to come around the lab almost every day, it wasn’t the case of the latter and... The very problem was there. At first, the name of the protocol was “Random Tantrum”; then, FRIDAY had understood her Boss’ mood swings oddly matched with the “long” periods without meeting the Doctor, by long understand a week, hence the “Supreme Tantrum” protocol.</p><p> </p><p>It had been almost a month since Strange’s last visit now, and FRIDAY was seriously thinking about renaming the procedure in the “Supreme Teenage Crush Crisis” protocol, when her captors distinguished an abnormal spike of excitation in Peter behaviour as he arrived at the Tower and, considering the teen was always super excited, this speeding in his already elevated heart rate was worth to be noticed and enough for the AI to interfere:</p><p> </p><p>“Good afternoon, Peter. Is everything alright?”</p><p> </p><p>The kid was almost buzzing in anticipation.</p><p> </p><p>“FRIDAY! You will never believe what I’ll show you! Lead me to Mr. Stark asap, please and schedule an appointment to his dentist! He’ll never be able to pick his jaw from the floor!”</p><p> </p><p>The AI was used to Peter overstatement, so, in her great wisdom, she didn’t set up a meeting with the dentist but led the teen to her Boss while trying to calculate the probabilities about what the kid wanted to show them. She was hesitating between a meme and a video of a kitty being cute, but she was wrong. It appeared that what Peter wanted to show to Mr. Stark was a magazine, an advertisement for a pull-over from Christian Pellizzari to be more specific.</p><p> </p><p>

</p><p> </p><p>At first, Friday had been ready to place an order for said pull-over, assuming Peter had found the present for Dr. Banner the three of them had been searching for an eternity, now. But when her cameras detected that the Boss has his mouth actually hanging open, the AI decided to expend the picture he was staring at and... Oh by the great Turing! Screw the piece of cloth and Dr. Banner’s birthday, the model was tremendously looking like Doctor Strange. Scratch that, after a quick check in her database, she was sure about it: Doctor Strange <em>was</em> the model.</p><p> </p><p>“FRI, is it...”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, Boss.”</p><p> </p><p>By the end of the afternoon, the AI had a new task running in the background of her programs searching for every magazine Doctor Strange had ever posed for to be delivered to the Tower: the “Sexy Magic Doctor” protocol. It wasn’t a particularly original name, but she hadn’t chosen it, the Boss had.</p><p> </p><p>oOo</p><p> </p><p>God, Stephen was beautiful... The strikes of white hair were hided, as his goatee, magically probably, but it was impossible to not recognize him. Sharp cheekbones, astounding eyes - kinda grey on this picture - big, graceful hands; and he was tall, <em>so</em> tall! You might believe Tony Stark doesn't like people being taller than him; well, first of all, he doesn't give a damn. And then, in the case of Stephen, he finds it quite... Sexy? Does "sexy" involves the whole "I feel tiny next to you, but I like it because it makes me feel like you're powerful and I like it" feeling? Whatever...</p><p> </p><p>So, yes, Stephen was beautiful, but Stephen always is, with or without white strikes and goatee. Hell, he's even beautiful with those damn blue bathrobes he's always wearing, but can we - and when I say we, I mean the neurones in Tony's head which hadn't melted yet - talk a moment about this pullover? More precisely, about how much Stephen looks <em>cozy</em> and <em>soft</em> in it? Tony can almost feel how warm and fluffy it would feel under his fingers, how it would be a pure delight to gently slide his hand under it and just bask in the heat of Stephen's body. Better: how it would feel to delicatly run his fingertips over the expanse of smooth, milky skin he's sure he would find underneath it.</p><p> </p><p>So, no, Stephen is <em>not</em> beautiful, he looks just as delicate as a meringue, just as tasty as a cake just out of the oven, still warm and smelting. He looks <em>delicious</em>, and Tony can't wait to take a bite.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you had enjoyed this chapter &lt;3 Please, tell me what you think in comments, it gives me joy, but it also helps me to improve my writing and to know what you like/would like to read (if not in this story, in another, for later).</p><p>See you next week for the next chapter &lt;3</p><p>Picture: Photoshoot of Benedict Cumberbatch for ELLE UK in 2014.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Stephen would have given anything to have a good excuse to fly away. A maniac trying to invade New York seems to not be good enough, though.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi IronStrange shipper, I'm back for the third chapter ^^ Thank you so much for your reviews, they make me so, so happy &lt;3 and they help me in my writing, since I added some bits to this story, it will be longer that I had previously intented.<br/>That's a bit ironic, since this very chapter is a little shorter than the others ^^"</p><p>Also, I know absolutely nothing about modelling and I'm sure there are plenty of very sympathetic models and photographers out there; they aren't in this story for... plot purpose ^^"</p><p>I hope you will enjoy it &lt;3</p><p>You can find me <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nerdslover/?igshid=zy2tclie696d/">here</a> and come make requests, asking questions or just fangirling with me =D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At first, Stephen had thought being a model wouldn’t be the end of the World; there shouldn’t be anything complicated in staying still with a slightly annoyed face while the photographer took a few pictures, after all.</p><p>
  <em>Great gods, I swear I have learnt my lesson, I shall never talk without knowing what I’m talking about from experience ever again, but, please, have mercy it had been going for hours now!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>In the middle of this especially long and painful shooting, Stephen would have given anything to have a good excuse to fly away. He was tired of the creators’ bullshit who wanted him to look like he wanted to make love to a bottle of perfume in front of the lens. But... It’s a <em>goddamn</em> bottle of perfume, so no, Stephen doesn’t want to engage in an intercourse with it, thank you very much! To be honest, this one creator hadn’t been the worst of all, totally crazy, but not bad, and his perfume actually smelled great. Nothing to do with the one who wanted the Sorcerer to freaking <em>lick</em> his belt! Then, Stephen had wondered if he really was shooting a photoshoot for Vogue as he was expecting to or if he had taken the wrong door and ended on the set of a magazine for adults! He was tired of the photographers’ rudeness, they were always screaming at him “Look this way! Look that way! Don’t fucking smile! Close your mouth! Get up! Sit down! Shut up!”, never had he heard words such as “hello”, “please” or “thank you”. He was even tired of the other models’ behaviour, they scowled at him all the time, only the Vishanti knew why! Stephen knew very well life wasn’t a bed of roses, he remembered vividly his med school days, but... Modelling was worse, in a way, because he had always wanted to become a Doctor, so suffering what he had had to suffer didn’t seem an enormous price to pay for his dreams coming true. Honestly, Stephen had to remind himself why he was putting himself into this Hell very often.</p><p> </p><p>Just now, clad in a tux, sprawled across a very uncomfortable armchair and desperately trying to show off his Puma sneakers to the lens when he had spent the most part of the night fighting an interdimensional enraged coypu, Stephen was needing to remind himself why he hadn’t already thrown everybody in the room in the Dark Dimension, so he could have, oh... Two hours of sleep, maybe? But it seemed someone Above had listened to Stephen’s silent pleas, as Wong was gesturing to him with his phone in his hands.</p><p>/&gt;</p><p> </p><p>Taking advantage of another outburst from the photographer, Stephen made his way to his friend, almost cheerful at the idea of having a good excuse to abandon everything where it was.</p><p> </p><p>“What is it?”</p><p> </p><p>“The Avengers, they are asking for help.”</p><p> </p><p>“What’s the problem?”</p><p> </p><p>“Nothing too big, random wannabe villain number 246 who wants to dominate the world, the usual nonsense.”</p><p> </p><p>“OK, you’re on it, then.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, wait, wait... I give you a golden justification to ditch all this shit and you don’t take it?”</p><p> </p><p>Stephen rolled his eyes, of course he would prefer to go fighting for what worth it instead of posing for a pair of sneakers, but... Well...</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not a major threat, they don’t need me specifically. And your help will be much appreciated, anyway. I’ll see you back at the Sanctum.”</p><p> </p><p>Wong did as he had been told, even only because he couldn’t possibly let the Avengers on their own if they had asked for help. But, Hell, he hadn’t said his last word!</p><p> </p><p>As soon as the sorcerer had arrived on the battlefield, the fight had been over: random wannabe villain number 246 could do nothing against magic doubled by a pissed off Wong. And even a pissed off Wong wasn’t enough to stop Tony Stark from asking for answers as soon as they had gotten back to Stark Tower for a debrief.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey! Wong!”</p><p> </p><p>“Stark.”</p><p> </p><p>“No offense, you know I kinda like you, but I recall calling Strange to the rescue; where is he?”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Here come the troubles...</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading! Please, keep telling me what you're thinking about it &lt;3 See you next week for the next chapter.</p><p>Picture: Photoshoot of Benedict Cumberbatch for The Times by Chris McAndrew back in 2010.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Doctor Strange is too busy to even come land a needed hand to the Avengers? Really? If Tony doesn't believe this one, will Wong tell him another half-assed excuse?!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey lovely readers, thank you for your support and your enthusiasm, you are the sun of my days &lt;3</p><p>Here come BAMF Tony, stressed out Wong, precious Peter and d*ck Avengers (Every story needs a good old-fashioned villain, isn't it? Well, I don't have any real villain but three people saying hurtful things... It will have to do ^^"). Please, be sure I DO NOT hate any Avengers.</p><p>I hope you will enjoy it &lt;3</p><p>You can find me <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nerdslover/?igshid=zy2tclie696d/">here</a> and come make requests, asking questions or just fangirling with me =D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tony Stark had been through a lot of shit, so you would believe the world, the karma or whatever bigger force up there would be so kind to let him be after having to fly up to Titan, this poor, lonely rock at the other end of the Universe, to kick Thanos’ ass into next life.</p><p>No. Ahah, no. Quite the contrary, really, since the fate seemed to have reserved for him… A crush. Yeah, at fifty years old, the Universe had decided the time for Tony Stark to feel butterflies in his stomach had come. Great. Perfect. And solely in the presence of the Sorcerer Supreme, nonetheless. Thank you, Universe. Or, no, better: f*ck you, Universe!</p><p>Whatever. Tony Stark had fight aliens and terrorists, so handling a little crush shouldn’t be this difficult. Two months after the whole Thanos business, he had convinced Strange to join the Avengers during their sparring and to train them to fight against magic users such as Ebony Maw. Smooth. Two birds with one stone, etc: he got to hang out more with his crush AND the team is being well trained. But that’s not enough; of course not: Strange has to take care of every member of the team during these sparring sessions, he doesn’t have so much time to flirt with Tony. Smooth, but not efficient enough.</p><p>But, you know, when you’re told Tony Stark is a genius, it’s not for peanuts. So he may have found the perfect way to have some more time with the sorcerer. Some alone time. In the lab. Under the excuse to understand how Strange’s magic was working. At first, Stephen hadn’t been very convinced, not really enthralled to be playing the guinea pig, but when Tony had explained understanding how magic works would help him to feel at ease with it, the sorcerer had accepted.</p><p>So, yeah, for once, Tony was proud of himself. And he hadn’t even have to lie: studying Stephen’s powers was really helping him to go along with all the Mystic Arts jazz. His plan was flawless and the afternoons he had spent with the sorcerer were really exciting; the man was really smart, and witty, and funny, and he has the most stunning eyes, and… And… And, yeah, Tony was almost ready to buy one of these pink notebooks with a tiny lock and start to write sonnets surrounded by things like “Tony Strange” or “Stephen Stark” and “IronStrange” in cursive with little hearts instead of points above the “i”.</p><p>At one point, Iron Man had had to gather his guts and start thinking about asking Stephen out, before the pink notebook with the tiny lock become an actual thing, preferably. This decision had, unfortunately, matched with the sorcerer apparently deciding he didn’t have time to spend with him anymore. Or with the Avengers in general, because, nowadays, he wasn’t even coming himself when he was called on mission because…</p><p>“He’s busy.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh. Oooh he’s busy? That’s pretty surprising, he just has been too busy for everything these last months and he’s also too busy to come when the freaking Avengers call him for help! Tell me, what does occupy Mister Doctor Strange so much that he hasn’t even the time to do is fucking job?!”</p><p> </p><p>Something really uncommon was happening at this very moment: Wong didn’t know what to do. His first instinct had been to spat the truth to Tony’s head: that Stephen was working for his second job because everybody wasn’t born with a silver spoon in the mouth like certain ones. But, at the same time, he also knew that Stephen wouldn’t like his problems to be put on display like that, and his behaviour towards these particular problems had made him win a piece of Wong’s respect. But, he also knew Stephen had a thing for Stark. Well, he thought he had known, because the Sorcerer Supreme indeed hadn’t showed up a lot at Stark Tower, lately. He had kinda avoided the place, to be honest. And... Stark had also a thing for Stephen, as this emotional outburst proved; so, telling him the truth, that Stephen was too busy modelling because he needed money wouldn’t be a bad thing: Tony would want to see the pictures, sure, but he would simply become a little more head over heels for Stephen and maybe it would help him to make a move? Wait, no, no, because Stephen seemed to have changed his mind by avoiding Stark Tower... Or was it precisely <em>because</em> he had a thing for Tony that he was suddenly avoiding Stark Tower? Argh... All of this in 10 seconds of time, before Wong was saved by FRIDAY.</p><p> </p><p>“Boss...”</p><p> </p><p>“One minute, baby girl, I’m waiting for answers, here.”</p><p> </p><p>“You may want to hear what I have to say, then, Boss.”</p><p> </p><p>Tony closed his eyes briefly before sighing “Ok, tell me, then.”</p><p> </p><p>“As you know, Doctor Strange got a new job as a model a little than a month ago. Peter was curious about why he decided it, so I made some research. It appears the date which Doctor Strange earned his first pay also is the date Master Gasun, who is the guardian of the Sanctum of Hanoï, had been able to repay most of his debts. And, a week later, Kamar-Taj hired a carpenter to fix the front door.”</p><p> </p><p>Tony already didn’t seem as angry as a minute ago; but FRIDAY wasn’t done.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, do you remember the fight against Gargan which happened while you were on a meeting in Tokyo?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, what...”</p><p> </p><p>A record from one of the Avengers’ comms interrupted him and Tony clearly heard Cap saying, over battle noises: “<em>Strange! Be careful to not be bruised if you want to do the next cover of Vanity Fair!</em>”</p><p> </p><p>What?</p><p> </p><p>Quickly followed by Natasha hissing, in what had to be another record: “<em>We don’t need eye candy for this mission, Strange.</em>” And, finally, Strange himself, probably during a debrief, telling the Avengers they should have call him and Clint answering: “<em>What would have you done? Cat-walk to him until he dies from a boner?</em>”</p><p> </p><p>“Mrs. Romanoff’s record has been registered while you were on the plane for London and Mr. Barton’s one when you were on a meeting presenting the last Stark Phone, it was a debrief about the debacle in Florida, with the guy who wanted to flood all the estate...”</p><p> </p><p>Indeed, last week, Tony had had to choose between ditching a mission and a broad meeting where he would present his last tech invention. He would have gladly chosen the first, but Pepper would have killed him, so...</p><p> </p><p>Wong was ready to portal everybody to the Himalaya, but Stark had been faster than him.</p><p> </p><p>“So... Tell me, <em>heroes</em>, did you make fun of a guy’s job? Did you make fun of a guy who’s <em>working</em> because he needs money? Really?”</p><p> </p><p>A thick silence had shot down on the briefing room, all the Avengers were looking at Tony with their mouth slightly open.</p><p> </p><p>“Remind me, would you, how much cost your rent?” No response. “Oh, am I stupid? You’re all living here for free! Remind me, when was the last time one of you had to go grocery shopping? It must have been a long time, because groceries are delivered here every week, groceries for which I pay. What would you do if I happened to have enough of you all and kick you out? Maybe the Widow and Hawkeye would steal for a living, but what about you, Cap? Don’t answer me! Are you proud? Are you proud of you for making fun of a brave man who protects our universe AND needs to work to pay the bills while you’re all living freely off my wallet?”</p><p> </p><p>No, they weren’t proud, it was all written on their face. The silence was unbearably guilty.</p><p> </p><p>“Tony...” Steve tried anyway “... I swear I didn’t want to mock Doctor Strange I... I was really worried he would be unable to do his job if he was hurt...”</p><p> </p><p>“I believe you, Cap, but it was really a clumsy way to be friendly. Whatever, your comment wasn’t the worst of all. I will say it once and once only: if I ever hear you told something among those lines to Stephen ever again, I promise you - so it’s not a threat, it’s a promise - I’ll kick you out of here and take all the tech I gave you back. Now get out of here and faster than that!”</p><p> </p><p>Everyone hurried to obey, too happy to escape Iron Man’s rage, except for Peter. And Wong, who was absolutely flabbergasted.</p><p> </p><p>“Excuse me, Mr. Stark?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, kid, but quick, I really need a drink right now...”</p><p> </p><p>“I... I think I have an idea. For Mister Doctor Strange... If Mr. Wong agrees, of course!”</p><p> </p><p>Whatever the kid’s idea was, Mr. Wong, after discovering that Tony Stark was also worthy of his respect, would, at least, not say no to a drink.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading &lt;3 Please, keep on telling me what you think about this story, it is finished, but I'm still adding bits here and there when I think I can do better than I did and I always pay attention to what you say. See you next week!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Just a cute/awkward moment between Tony, Stephen and Peter. And a very cliché ending of the chapter ^^"</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey there, I'm back with the fifth chapter ^^ Thank you for your support, this is really amazing, every comment, every kuddo I see makes my day during the week and I'm always looking forward to answer everyone on Friday (I don't do it everyday, or I wouldn't study anymore, just reading, writing and answering and it's already difficult enough to find the will to study ^^").</p><p>This is tooth-rotting fluff, I warn you. I hope you will enjoy it &lt;3</p><p>You can find me <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nerdslover/?igshid=zy2tclie696d/">here</a> and come make requests, asking questions or just fangirling with me =D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For the first time in a while, Stephen had had a good day. He had been surprised, in the morning, when Wong had told him his nephew had called to warn the model that he wouldn’t pose for TIFF Variety as planned but for a new mysterious client.</p><p> </p><p>At first, Stephen hadn’t been glad to pose for a secret brand. Yes, he needed money, but he didn’t want to be in an advertisement for something he was truly against. His mind had quickly changed, then, when he had been told - very politely, that had to be said - by a manager he didn’t know that the photoshoot was for a new smartphone. Smartphone, Stephen could work with, especially with a very kind and cheerful photographer. Wow, he even had said “thank you” at the end of the shoot. People having seemingly decided to act as polite and educated beings rather than assholes had put Stephen in a good mood; the only thing which wasn’t perfect that he still didn’t know for who he had worked today but, to be honest, at this point, he didn’t care anymore.</p><p> </p><p>When the photo shoot had been done, smoothly, quickly and with a lot of professionalism, another surprise was waiting for Stephen: a missing call and a vocal from Tony Stark. First, the Doctor felt his stomach sink, what had he missed? What if Stark had called about an emergency? Then, the realistic part of him took the upper hand: Wong hadn’t barged into the room through a portal while yelling at him that the World was in danger, what he undoubtedly would have done if Iron Man had called him about a massive threat. So: everything has to be ok.</p><p> </p><p>This statement oddly made Stephen’s stomach sink a little more. If it wasn’t World-security related, it had to be a friendly demand. Maybe he had found a magical piece of tech and wanted the sorcerer’s advice? Or maybe he had discovered something interesting about the tests he had run on Stephen’s magic and wanted to talk to him about it? He also could need him for a kind of scientific brainstorm, it wouldn’t be the first time.</p><p> </p><p>... “Friendly”, yes, or, at least, Stephen hoped. The vocal didn’t disappoint him: Tony and Peter’s last invention had been a success and they were planning to celebrate it with ice-cream, they wanted to know if Stephen would like to join them. The sorcerer slightly blush as butterflies started to flap happily in his stomach. Oh, it definitely was a very good day.</p><p> </p><p>oOo</p><p> </p><p>Tony Stark was torn between two feelings. On one hand, he was very relieved to know Strange wasn’t dying in a corner with no one but Wong and his magic carpet to take care of him or, worse, avoiding Tony for whatever reason. On the other hand, he couldn’t simply begin to fathom <em>how </em>he had kept from blowing the entire tower and its inhabitants up when he had learnt how his fellow “super heroes” had treated Stephen. His anger had slightly deflated thanks to the Spiderling, but he was still feeling enraged thinking about how people, supposedly endowed with a f*cking brain, a f*cking heart and a f*cking set of eyes, could have talked to Stephen this way. Jeez, he was the Sorcerer Supreme! He could have boom boom wooshed everybody into the Hell dimension or something like that if he had wanted to! But he hadn’t. He obviously hadn’t since the guilty Avengers were crawling their way to Tony’s feet in a way or another since his outburst. Ah! Of course he hadn’t! Stephen was a such a good man, loyal, brave, humble, kindhearted… He would never have lost his shit, especially not because of people like <em>that</em>.</p><p>Anyway, learning Stephen was modelling for money and for money only had broken Tony’s heart. Twice, since the cash wasn’t even for Stephen himself… Could this man be any more perfect?! <em>Don’t try to answer to this</em> Tony thought to himself before asking to F.R.I.D.A.Y. to read him the new message she just mentioned he received.</p><p>“New message from Sexy Dumbledore: “<em>Congratulations! Ice cream sounds great, I’m on my way</em>” received at 3:17 PM”</p><p>“Did you hear it, Mr. Stark? Doctor Strange is coming!”</p><p>“I did kid, be careful to not forget anything before we leave for the ice cream parlour.” Hell, did the kid just heard F.R.I.D.A.Y. calling Strange “Sexy Dumbledore”? He really should change his contact name. Scratch that, he shouldn’t, he’s doing it right now.</p><p>“F.R.I., baby, would you be an angel and change Stephen’s name into something more appropriate, please?”</p><p>“Sure thing, Boss, how do you want to name him?”</p><p>Tony scratched his goatee, thinking hard to find something equally cute and ridiculous but not <em>this </em>ridiculous for the Sorcerer… But he hadn’t all day. “Surprise me, doll, just make sure I can easily find him.”</p><p>“On it, Boss.”</p><p>The AI had barely finished her sentence when a circle of fire opened, letting Doctor Strange – just leaving his photoshoot session, so in civilian clothes – strolled in the middle of the lab, a ghost of a smile clinging to his delightful lips. Little hearts instead of points above the “i”, remember? Yeah…</p><p>“Hey, Stranger.” <em>God, why can’t I have F.R.I.D.A.Y. to code some back-up lines to throw at him instead of making a fool out myself every.single.time?</em></p><p>“Hey yourself.”</p><p>
  <em>Ok, Stark, you got this. It’s just the goddamn Sexy Sorcerer Supreme, nothing to sweat about. All right.</em>
</p><p>“So, no interdimensional trip schedule for today?”</p><p>
  <em>Well ! Hey, very well, even! I knew I got this…</em>
</p><p>“Nope. Just my old plain boring self on Earth. What about this new tech we’re celebrating?”</p><p>“Oh, nothing really interesting, just a good excuse to go and have some ice cream.”</p><p>
  <em>What the… Go ahead, Stark! Just ask him to go out already, it will be more subtle!</em>
</p><p>But a smirk was slowly making its way on Stephen’s face, “Well, I’ll be damn, the great Tony Stark has a sweet tooth!”</p><p>“I sure do, why do you think I hang out with you, sweet cheeks?”</p><p>
  <em>God, please, tell me I didn’t tell him that!</em>
</p><p>When Tony, too busy internally screaming at himself, finally properly looked at his host and spotted the deep pink dusting the Sorcerer’s perfect cheekbones, he, finally, had, according to him, the only appropriate response:</p><p>
  <em>Stark.exe has ceased to function.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>oOo</p><p> </p><p>Peter wanted to die. He didn’t know if he wanted to die from the joy he felt to see Mr. Stark and Mr. Doctor Strange flirting like teenager boys - well, Mr. Stark was flirting like a teenager boy and Mr. Doctor Strange was settling for blushing and sending all Mr. Stark’s innuendos back... so, yes, maybe he was flirting back in his own way, after all - their knees touching and their eyes glittering, and he was almost sure such an amount of unresolved sexual tension was bad for his health or if the awkwardness of attending such an intimate moment like a show was the reason he wanted to leave this world. Anyway, from joy or from awkwardness, Peter wanted to get out of the room before the last remnants of their self-control disappeared and they start making out or worse.</p><p> </p><p>Sure, he would be very happy to see the two men together, he was the one who had found the magazine (it had been a lucky break, to be honest, the magazine was lingering on the kitchen table, unfinished by Aunt May, open just at the right page. Can you believe it? Ok, coincidences don’t exist, the Universe isn’t this lazy, yadda yadda, but, sometimes, it’s either coincidences or the Universe ultimately failing at being subtle, there’s no other way!) and thought it would be a good idea to show it to Mr. Stark, after all. And he had been the one who had the brilliant idea which led to this little celebration. Nothing would please him more than seeing Mr. Stark happy, but if he could avoid the whole schmoozing session, he was a taker. No one wants to see their parents-figure making out. Eurk!</p><p> </p><p>If Peter had known what would happen soon, he would have <em>begged</em> to be forced to watch the two heroes kissing, even becoming handsy. But he couldn’t have known. No, he couldn’t have known...</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading &lt;3 Absolutely do not hesitate to tell me what you think or/and to make suggestions, I read and treasure every message ^^ See you next Friday for the beginning of the "hurt" part... But I'll make it up to you, I promise ;-)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So. [Mr. Stark,] I don't feel so good. I may not have been discorporated into ashed, but the heat will make me melt... Anyway, as you can see, there's no summary because this chapter is a little shorter than the other and I can't summarize it without spoiling anything. Also, I had a comment saying giving some clues about what's coming in the next chapter isn't a good idea, so, for now on, I will add a "Don't read below if you don't want any spoil", so the readers who want to be teased will be and the readers who don't want to will be warned.</p><p>Thank you for your support, it is truly amazing and heart-warming and I don't have the words to tell you how much I treasure it.</p><p> You can find me <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nerdslover/?igshid=zy2tclie696d/">here</a> and come make requests, asking questions or just fangirling with me =D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Stephen had been hired by the modelling agency, the account number he had given hadn’t been his own, but the one of the Sanctum of Kamar-Taj. He hadn’t had any intention to use the money for himself, so it was far simpler to deposit it in the treasure and letting Wong do his job, in Stephen’s point of view anyways. So, Wong had been the one to discover how much the Sorcerer Supreme had been paid for his mysterious smartphone photoshoot. And he simply couldn’t believe his eyes.</p><p>His first move had been to call the bank, which informed him there weren’t any error, then the agency which told him the same and the CEO of the company for which the photoshoot had been made.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure?”</p><p> </p><p>“Why yes, I’m sure! Do you think I spend my money unmindfully?!”</p><p> </p><p>“I do.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh! Thank you very much! I try to help others and this is how you thank me?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, seriously, thank you, but this... This is huge!”</p><p> </p><p>“What is huge?”</p><p> </p><p>Of course, this is when the Sorcerer Supreme had decided to come check Kamar-Taj in, couldn’t have been ten minutes before or after that, no, now, Wong and his rotten luck, it’s always the same thing in this temple, can’t be in peace for five minutes, grmbl...</p><p> </p><p>“Ok, thank you, bye!”</p><p> </p><p>Stephen threw an inquisitive look to the librairian, as if it would do something to him... Well, it shouldn’t have made Wong change his secretive attitude, maybe just reinforces it, but he invited Stephen to come get a look at what his computer screen. Wow.</p><p> </p><p>“That makes a lot of money, where does it come from?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s your last pay check.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?!”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes! I just made some phone calls, there’s no error.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hell... With that, no sorcerer should be in need for a long time...”</p><p> </p><p>“Indeed.”</p><p> </p><p>The two friends exchanged gazes full of happiness, but Stephen’s one got caught by the sender’s name. Stark Industries. He just get paid a little fortune to model for Stark Industries. He slammed his fist on Wong’s desk and started to yell.</p><p> </p><p>“You have to be kidding me!”</p><p> </p><p>“What?!”</p><p> </p><p>“You let me do all this shit for Stark Industries?!”</p><p> </p><p>“But...”</p><p> </p><p>“Hell, I’m going to kill him!”</p><p> </p><p>“Stephen!”</p><p> </p><p>But the Sorcerer Supreme was already opening a portal leading in front of Stark Tower, only to be greeted by a giant himself in an advertisement for the lastest StarkPhone. Boiling of rage and before Wong had had the time to stop him, he opened another portal directly to Stark’s workshop and went through it.</p><p> </p><p>Shit.</p><p> </p><p>oOo</p><p> </p><p>Tony was proud of himself. He had helped Stephen and gotten the prettiest model for his ad campaign; to be honest, he was proud of Peter - who had had the idea - and of himself for sorting everything in a record time and, finally, he didn’t care that Wong thought he was ill-spending his money.</p><p>“Hey, F.R.I.?”</p><p>“Yes, Boss?”</p><p>/&gt;</p><p>“Be honest with me, ok? What caught your eyes first? His icy blue-grey-green stare? His inky, velvety, perfectly tamed – except for this unruly curl, on the left – hair? His cupid bow, sinful lips? The way his biceps in gorgeously bulging? The creamy, pale expend on skin slightly unveiled partially thanks to a playful hand loosely gripping at his pants? The sweet, tiny, delicious freckles on his neck, on his forehead and on his arms? Or the chocking shot of red, in this ocean of blue ice?”</p><p>“I didn’t know you were a poet, boss.”</p><p>“I am not.”</p><p>No, Tony was no poet. Tony was so in love with Strange that the words just went rushing from his heart to his tongue without making any pit stop to the brain. There would never be too many adjectives to qualify Stephen and they would never be enough. He was above simple words. And even these wonderful pictures didn’t do him any justice. They show how handsome he was, sure, but not how brilliant, how brave, how funny he was. They didn’t show the humble, but not least extremely powerful Sorcerer Supreme. His kind heart. How tender his smile would turn when watching Peter gently scold DUMM-E for doing worse than good. There was no trace of the light blush Tony would die to see on his cheeks – Hell, if making Stephen blush was a sport, Tony would be a gold medallist – showing how shy the man could be. But Tony could forgive that, these were only pictures, after all.</p><p>The only thing Tony couldn’t forgive them was not showing Stephen’s smile. That was truly a shame. However, the thought was soon forgotten by Stephen, seeming livid, coming trough a portal into the workshop.</p><p> </p><p>“FRI, turn the music off, please.” Tony’s stomach was twisting in the most uneasy way; why did Stephen seemed this angry? <em>God, please, don’t make it because of me…</em></p><p> </p><p>“Did you have enough fun?”</p><p> </p><p>“I beg your pardon?”</p><p> </p><p>“It wasn’t enough that the other Avengers were making fun of me, was it? You had to do better than them! Now you have me as the perfect useless eye candy plastered on your damn tower, are you happy?”</p><p> </p><p>“What the...”</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up! Take you fucking money back and never speak to me again! You may be rich, but we aren’t all ex arms dealers, you know? Some of us need to really work for a living!”</p><p> </p><p>This time, Tony didn’t try to speak. What could he shave said to that?</p><p> </p><p>“Go fuck yourself, Stark. I thought you weren’t like that...”</p><p> </p><p>In the silence of the workshop, several minutes after Stephen was gone, only the AI could hear a wishpered “I’m not”.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading &lt;3 Absolutely do not hesitate to tell me what you think or/and to make suggestions, I read and treasure every message ^^ See you next Friday &lt;3</p><p>Picture: Photoshoot of Benedict Cumberbatch for Vanity Fair back in 2016.</p><p>DON'T READ BELOW IF YOU DON'T WANT ANY SPOIL</p><p>More hurt, just a little, like two pragraphs, and not in the next chapter. I don't like making them suffer, so don't be afraid ;-) And Stephen will have to find a way to make it up to Tony, so... See you &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>What can I say to not spoil anything but efficiently summarize this chapter? Mmh... Let's say it's all about communication.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There are little things which keep one going, this fanfiction is one of these things for me. Several, to be honest, since writing it was a pleasure (and still is, I'll tell you more soon) and knowing I can bring you a little happiness by reading your comments really keeps me going in this life. So, thank you, thank you for your support and your kind words, thank you anyway if you didn't say anything but liked this story, thank you even if you didn't show you liked it by a kudo. Just, thank you for reading it. Thank you for being here, week after week. I'll do my very best to not disapoint you.</p><p>You can find me <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nerdslover/?igshid=zy2tclie696d/">here</a> and come make requests, asking questions or just fangirling with me =D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Both Wong and Peter agreed: the situation was simply ridiculous, and not only because they were the first responsibles for it. In one hand, there was Stephen - or Mr. Doctor Strange - who has an obvious soft spot for Stark - Mr. Stark - and who would never have to model to feed his fellow sorcerers again thanks to Mr. Stark. On the other hand, there was Stark - Mr. Stark - who was head over heels for the Sorcerer Supreme, who collected his photoshoots and who had tried everything to flirt with his beloved wizard except pound on him to kiss him breathless, including secretly hiring him to solve his monetary problems. How the two managed to argue was a total mystery...</p><p> </p><p>Peter had come to the Sanctum hoping to explain to Mr. Doctor Strange it was all his fault: he had been the one to show the magazine to Mr. Stark and to offer the idea of hiring him for the StarkPhone campaign but he had been welcomed by Wong, who told him Stephen had locked himself in his bedroom and refused to see anyone, himself included. Besides, he couldn’t let the kid shoulder all the guilt, since he had been the one to push Stephen to start another job. But, what in the end? They were two adult guys, weren’t they? How was it even possible to miscommunicate to this point?! Because the Hell if Wong even knew why they had argued! That’s when Peter told him it was because Mr. Doctor Strange believed Mr. Stark had wanted to make fun of him in his own twisted, extravagant way.</p><p> </p><p>At that, Wong thought he couldn’t trust his ears anymore. How could such a genius be so damn <em>dumb</em>?! Peter, in turn, had almost had doubts about his eyes, because he would never had thought Wong would have been able to move this fast. Magically, maybe? In his fury, he wasn’t without making think about an Asian dragon; a very pissed off and tired-of-this-shit Asian dragon climbing the stairs two by two to burst in front of Stephen’s bedroom door. Wong was a Sorcerer, a librarian, a treasurer, a fan of Beyoncé and, occasionally, a troublemaker but under no circumstance was he a babysitter.</p><p> </p><p>“Stephen! Open the goddamn door!”</p><p> </p><p>No answer, as the past few days, but Wong wasn’t in the mood anymore.</p><p> </p><p>“Doctor Strange, open the door or you will be in big troubles, I’m severely tired of your crap!”</p><p> </p><p>Still no answer. Very well.</p><p> </p><p>“Cloak of Levitation, I appeal to you. Your Master is in distress, but I can salvage him. Help me to get him out of his room, for his own good, please.”</p><p> </p><p>Well... It was worth a try.</p><p> </p><p>“Cloak of Levitation, either you get Stephen out of his room or I revoke you Internet privileges!”</p><p> </p><p>That made the trick, in a red “roosh!”, Stephen - outraged and utterly offended to having been let down by his own cloak - found himself in the hall, at Wong’s mercy.</p><p> </p><p>One could say a lot of things about Wong: he’s a powerful sorcerer, sure. He’s obviously both short-tempered and a very patient man, otherwise he wouldn’t be Stephen’s best friend while also always being kind of irked at him all the time. He loves books, Hell, he adores them! He’s a snarky little bastard who likes annoying the shit out of the Sorcerer Supreme. Seeing how all of his anger melt at the view of his best friend, his eyes red and looking like a deer in headlights, one could add to the “things about Wong” list that he also was empathetic and that he couldn’t stand seeing his friends in pain. The thing was, now that Stephen was out of his temple of self-pity, Wong didn’t know what to say exactly... He did knew what he wanted to say: he wanted to tell Stephen to stop moping like a goddamn teenager, to tell him that Stark defended him tooth and nail against the bullheads who had made fun out of him - ah, yeah, Stephen didn’t know about this, what a shame... -, to tell him that he had willingly agreed to the idea of the advertising campaign - shit, he didn’t know about it neither - to remind him the ridiculous amount of money Stark had given him just... Well just because he was head over heels with the Sorcerer; just to make sure he and his friends would never miss anything again, and... Hell. Stephen has absolutely no idea about Stark’s feelings. So, yes, Wong knew what he wanted to tell Stephen, but he didn’t know how to do it without simply exploding.</p><p> </p><p>Happily for everybody, the kid seemed to not have that kind of problems, he throw himself at Stephen, crying, and started to ramble between two sobs “I’m so sorry Mr. Doctor Strange! This is all my fault! I-I saw how you looked at Mr. Stark and I also saw how he looked at you and he has such an enormous crush on you, when I s-saw this picture of you in Aunt May’s magazine I HAD to show it to hi-him and... And he has all of them, ALL OF THEM! And when he discovered how the other Avengers had treated you, Gosh... You wouldn’t believe how MAD he was, I still can’t believe he didn’t kick them out of the Tower and… and, I’m the one who told him to hire you for the last StarkPhone! I shouldn’t have done anything, I didn’t want this to happen, Mr. Doctor Strange! I’m so sorry!”</p><p> </p><p>Ok, so: the fact was Wong didn’t have to worry about exploding himself anymore, but about Stephen exploding. He wouldn’t say it was an improvement in itself, but, at least now, he knew. The Sorcerer Supreme had instinctively wrapped his arms around Peter’s shaking frame and, even on the verge of fainting, did his best to comfort the poor boy “It’s Ok, Peter, I’m not mad at you, I’m not mad at anyone anymore, I just didn’t know anything about it, right? You didn’t want to do bad, you just wanted to help, I know it. Stop crying, Peter, please, it’s Ok...”, but his eyes were wide, these revelations had shocked him. “Did Tony... How did he find what the others told me?”, he asked once the teenager was done with sobbing. “Last time he called you for help, Mr. Wong had been the one to come and since you didn’t come to the Tower anymore, he was being very sad and angry... So he snapped and asked for explanations, F.R.I.D.A.Y told him. I never saw Mr. Stark this mad... I expected him to yell and maybe even to throw a punch or two, but it had been even worse! You should have seen haw he was looking at them and, God, the way he talked to them! Mr. Wong was also there, he can tell you!”</p><p> </p><p>Eeeeh... Yeah, time for Wong to explain to Stephen he knew about the StarkPhone advertisement campaign all along... Here he goes! “Peter is right, Stark was livid and remind them what a shame it is to flout a honest man working hard for a living, even more when themselves don’t have to. They weren’t proud of themselves, afterwards. And, Peter may have been the one coming up with the idea of hiring you, but I agreed to this. I didn’t know you would... Well, react as you did.”. That made Stephen smile a little sadly. <em>That’s what happens when people don’t communicate enough</em>, he told himself, <em>especially when at least one of them is a total moron</em>... Before he had had the chance to say so, Peter suddenly pull away from him (but he was still clutching at his robes) with a deep frown, red face, “I’m sorry Mr. Doctor Strange, Mr. Wong and I are guilty, but how could you even think Mr. Stark would do such a thing to you?! That’s utterly stupid, I have to say... With your respect, Mr. Doctor, sir...”. And he was damn right!</p><p> </p><p>Stephen needed a plan. Somehow, everything had gone wrong and he needed to fix it, the sooner the better. “Yes, so, hum... I suppose I’ll go to Tony and make some excuses? I-I could bring him some donuts?” But, wait… No. He had royally fucked up. He owned Tony some serious apologies. He knew exactly what to do.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading, see you next Friday &lt;3 </p><p>DON'T READ BELOW IF YOU DON'T WANT ANY SPOIL</p><p>So, the "Hurt" is almost over, I promise. Next chapter will end the "hurt" and then, it will be... You'll see. Hold on with me, we're almost here! &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Stephen did mention he had a great idea to make it up to Tony, right? Well, it would be the right moment...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello dear readers =D So, you may have noticed that this story will have 10 chapters instead of 11. Does it means it will be shorter? Absolutely NOT, it's the total opposite, really, it was 8K+ when I started to post this fiction and, at the end, it rather will be around 10K. I just merged two chapters together, that's all ^^</p><p>Thank you for your support, your kudos and your comments &lt;3 I hope you will want to go all the way with me.</p><p>You can find me <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nerdslover/?igshid=zy2tclie696d/">here</a> and come make requests, asking questions or just fangirling with me =D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Some say that, when something keeps happening all the time, you don’t need a word to name it because it becomes the norm. Tony was feeling dejected, sad. Guilty. And there was no specific protocol for this instance.</p><p> </p><p>Tony Stark has never been a shy one, will never be. So, there was a reason for him to not asking Stephen out, to not acting on his crush in a way or another: he had been afraid to fuck everything up. It was nothing new for him though, since he became Iron Man, he had always been terrified at the idea of not making the right thing and he was used to feel guilty. He should have done better, faster, stronger. He shouldn’t have done what he did. He should have done differently. His father, Obadiah, Pepper, the Avengers and everyone in between had never stopped to tell him about it. But he had known what he needed to do then: providing and protecting. At the end, he was right. At the end, he had always done his best to fix his errors and to upgrade his successes, to be a better man, to be worth of being called a hero. He had always done his best, but it never had been enough.</p><p> </p><p>Things were different with Stephen. Tony couldn’t put a suit of armor around him (wrong. Ahah, so wrong. The suit is already waiting for him, hided in a secret stash in the lab. What did you think?!), he didn’t need to, Stephen was so powerful... But he was also so...Delicate. Exquisite. Refined. Oh, graceful and bright, and witty and... And... Why bother? Tony had ruined it, anyway. Months and months of patience, smiling, talking, bickering, flirting, more and more of everything destroyed by the compelling need to protect and provide against all odds. He shouldn’t have given all this money to Stephen, even less without asking him about it. Now, the Sorcerer was thinking Tony had wanted him to pass off as a toy the billionaire was owning or something as equally stupid and wrong and absolutely NOT what Tony had wanted to do. Whatever. This was probably for the best anyway, someone like Tony wasn’t worth someone as perfect as Stephen, not even if he was doing everything in his power to become a better man. Nope.</p><p> </p><p>Some dreams were meant to be exactly that, isn’t it? Only dreams...</p><p> </p><p>« Incoming message from 💖💝💘💙💚💦💦💦🍆🍆🍆Magic Touch💖💝💘💙💚💦💦💦🍆🍆🍆 , Boss. »</p><p> </p><p>F.R.I.D.A.Y. didn’t care if the Boss had locked himself down into his bedroom, she knew what he needed, what he wanted (not what was good for him, it wasn’t the point) and the Boss would never had wanted to deny Stephen, whatever the circumstances were. Anyway, the Spiderling had explained the operation « get the two dumb geniuses together » to the AI. Even more with the message content.</p><p> </p><p>Tony was… Dumbfounded. What, for God sake, was this orgy of little shiny hearts and, <em>what the fuck</em>, eggplants and – what was that? – droplets? Around the name of the caller? <em>Magic Touch? I don’t recall calling anyone that… What the Hell, F.R.I.D.A.Y.?! </em>“F.R.I., baby… Who’s that?”</p><p> </p><p>If Tony hadn’t been absolutely <em>sure </em>he had made his AI so extremely complex it was able to learn and to sass him, he would have thought he was hallucinating F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s playful tone. “It’s Doctor Strange, Boss. You asked me to change his last ID to something more, I quote, “more appropriate”, so, according to your giant crush on him and the way you…”</p><p> </p><p>“OK, STOP, I get it! We’ll see that later, but when I said… Wait. Wait, did…”</p><p> </p><p>Did the man who had barged in his lab just a few days ago, telling him to fuck the Hell off, just send him a message? <em>Ok, keep calm, Stark, it could be your last chance.</em></p><p> </p><p> « Show me, baby girl. »</p><p> </p><p>« Sure thing, Boss. »</p><p> </p><p>It was a simple picture, nothing to be stunned by; just a picture of a box laid on what obviously was a desk in the workshop. The message was also fairly simple: <em>find me</em>. The engineer didn’t think about it twice and raced to the lab, the remnants of his hearts hammering like crazy.</p><p> </p><p>Tony Stark wasn’t used to see his dreams becoming true. F.R.I.D.A.Y. immediately turned the Tower under the «Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo» protocol: nothing and no one can join the Boss right now, and since the Iron Man Suit is not ready to be changed into a pumpkin any time soon, it will stay like this until his Prince Charming brings him back at the Tower. Bim, no one can argue with the Artificial Fairy Godmother.</p><p> </p><p>“F.R.I., be a sweetheart and write a memo for me; when what must be done will have been –  I get the hearts and the choice of nick name – but I want to understand what the eggplants and the droplets seem relevant to you, regarding Stephen’s contact name.”</p><p> </p><p>Uh. Well, F.R.I.D.A.Y. might need a little help from KAREN on this one…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading, do not hesitate to tell me what you think or/and to make suggestions, I read and treasure every message ^^ See you next Friday &lt;3</p><p>DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU DON'T WANT ANY SPOIL</p><p>The "Hurt" is over, now it's just fluff :3 And attempt at humor ^^"</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's time for Stephen to reveal his great plan to win Tony back! Well, Tony never stopped to love Stephen, so we should say "Stephen's great plan". And... It may be not so great, to be honnest... It... It probably isn't even a proper "plan", more of a crazy ideae Stephen had when he was all stressed and emotional, so... It's time.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Dear Readers, I hope you will like this chapter. I'm very nervous about it and afraid to disappoint you, especially after all the kindness you showed me. But I did promise a chapter per week, so, here we are. I really, really hope you will enjoy it &lt;3</p><p>Technically, Robert Downey Jr. Was born in 1965 and Benedict Cumberbatch in 1976, so they’re 11 years apart. Tony Stark was born in 1970 and Strange’s birthday isn’t specified in the MCU, I think I remember all we know is he was born in November; so I keep the same age difference between the two of them. Why does it matter ? The answer is below.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Stephen was a mess; that’s cold news, yeah, he knows. But, still, he couldn’t believe he had come with such a stupid plan… After hearing Wong and Peter’s confessions, his idea had seemed a bright one, it was the right thing – no, the perfect thing to do, and he had immediately explained it to his friends. That’s where he had screwed up, because if he hadn’t said anything, Wong wouldn’t a) have forced him to follow this stupid plan b) have promised to laugh his ass off at him about it when everything would have happily ended.</p><p>. <em>Life lesson number 57518: NEVER speak while hight on adrenaline. Lesson learned.</em></p><p>So, if Stephen had come through a portal into the lab a few minutes ago – while still being stunned that he has a granted access to the Tower, <em>all the Tower</em>, whenever he wanted, as Peter had told him – asked to F.R.I.D.A.Y. to not disclose his presence to Tony, and put a box on his desk before going to hide in a corner, partially concealed by the Cloak which – what the fuck but, at this point, why the Hell not – seemed to be able to make him invisible, it was all because of Wong, really…</p><p>After a few minutes, he started to panic. Tony didn’t look like he was rushing to the lab right now, what if Stephen’s stupid plan didn’t work? What if Tony was so upset he didn’t want to see Stephen anymore? What if he had lost his friendship forever? If he had spoiled the golden opportunity to…</p><p>“Excuse me, Doctor Strange” whispered F.R.I.D.A.Y. “Peter explained me your plan, and I think you forgot a part of it.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“You didn’t send a text to the Boss, he doesn’t know you’re here, neither the box…”</p><p>… As I said, Stephen was a <em>mess</em>.</p><p>oOo</p><p>Entering the lab, Tony spotted the box immediately. It was a simple cardboard box, really, it just seemed a bit used at the corners, nothing to get excited about. But Stephen had deposited it here – or had had it deposited, did F.R.I.D.A.Y. say something about the Sorcerer Supreme being in the Tower? – and seemed to… To what? Be playful? <em>Open me</em> said the text.</p><p>There were two options. Even Stephen was trying to make up with Tony in his own Supremely Occult way, which Tony was ok with, drama queens must support and encourage each other; just asking for a coffee over the phone and then apologize in a simple way? Naaah, that wouldn’t be lavish enough, nothing to write home about… Or a story. The other option was some villain had been aware of Tony’s feeling for Stephen and their argument and had decided to take advantage of it all to trap Tony with whatever was in the box.</p><p>“Boss?”</p><p>“Uh!” Tony had been so absorbed in his analyse of the situation that he had been staring at the package, unmoving, for a few good minutes. “Yeah, opening the mysterious box, on it.”</p><p>
  
</p><p>Okaaaay. Well, Tony couldn’t remember the “pastel shoot”, he probably was too hight when he shot it…  </p><p>
  
</p><p>Oooh! But wasn’t it the Rolling Stones magazine he had made the cover of? How old was he, again? Twenty? Twenty-one?</p><p>
  <a href="https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=20/36/w6ip.jpg">
    
  </a>
</p><p>And this one, yeah, this one Tony remembered well, the shoot for Ted &amp; Debbie, he was dressed as a gangster, all Mafia vibes, it had been a good session.</p><p>
  <a href="https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=20/36/sxvy.jpg">
    
  </a>
</p><p>And… Wait, was it?</p><p>
  <a href="https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=20/36/dusp.jpg">
    
  </a>
</p><p>Tony dug at the back of the box, he thought he had seen… Hell, yes.</p><p>
  <a href="https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=20/36/o7u9.jpg">
    
  </a>
</p><p>The Play Girl Magazine he had featured in.  There were a few magazines and dozens, several dozens of pictures of him, studiously cut off of the press they were from and preserved in this box. But what…</p><p>“H… Hey…”</p><p>Tony had been so engrossed in his discoveries that he hadn’t heard Stephen coming out of his hideout and coming near him. And this his how a startled Tony believed someone had, indeed, taken advantage of his argument with Stephen to trap and then attack him. This is also how the great Sorcerer Supreme found himself squinting at a charged repulsor aimed right between his eyes, raising his hand in a gesture of peace and surrender. <em>Great, Stephen. Your plan was flawless, too bad you weren’t planning to be killed by Iron Man or to give him a heart attack.</em></p><p>“Please… Uh… You have all the rights to be mad at me, but don’t blast my head off of my body? It may seem like I don’t use it at all, but I’m very attached to it. Please?”</p><p>
  <em>Really? First you yelled at him, then you scared the shit out of him and now you’re begging him to let you alive? What the Hell is your life?!</em>
</p><p>Giving Tony was doing his best imitation of a fish out of water, he probably was asking himself the same question, but the gauntlet quickly disappeared.</p><p>“Stephen… What are you… What is that?”</p><p>
  <em>Ok, Strange, don’t screw it. You can do this.</em>
</p><p>“This is mine.” <em>Go ahead! Come on, say it!</em></p><p>“I… What?!”</p><p>Stephen took in a deep breath, looked at Tony right in the eyes and just went for it.</p><p>“This is the box where I keep all the pictures of you I’ve been able to find since I was ten. In fact… They aren’t all in the box, I also had a few posters, but they would be spoiled if I had fold them to be tucked in. But you get the idea, I hope, because I do think this plan to ask for your forgiveness and to confess my feelings is absolute bullshit. I’ve been one of your fans. I still am, by the way, but… Maybe not in the same way?”</p><p>Tony was still looking thunderstruck, so Stephen kept going. Maybe it wasn’t all that clear…</p><p>“Listen, Peter came to my place and explain me everything. I didn’t want to be… I didn’t want to talk to you like I did, you didn’t deserve it. In fact, you deserve the exact opposite. But the other Avengers… I don’t blame everything on them, they’re not responsible for my behaviour, it’s all on my, obviously, but… I believed you thought the same way they did, and… I don’t care about what they think. But I do care about what <em>you </em>think. And… I’ve been ridiculous, I jumped onto conclusions. And this is my way to apologize and… show you I care about you? And since Peter told me you collected pictures of me I… I thought it would be a good idea to… Aw…”</p><p>Stephen was seriously starting to lose it, rendering Tony Stark speechless was a treat, fine, very well, but a reaction, <em>anything</em>, would have been welcome, at this point!</p><p>“Say something, or I use the Eye to go back to the day I let Wong talk me into modelling in the first place.”</p><p>Tony didn’t say anything. But he did catch the Sorcerer Supreme’s head into his hands to lead him into a heated, frantic kiss. Letting Stephen go back in time to undo his modelling career and seeing all of his marvellous photoshoots disappeared forever? Are you mad?!</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I really, really need constructive criticism about this chapter, dear Readers, it's the one I doubt the more about...</p><p>So, I think I don't spoil anyone by saying the next chapter will be the last, and it will be an epilogue. Last time I tell you "See you next week" for a while &lt;3 Did I edit a fake "PlayGirl Magazine" cover myself just for this story? Yes, I did XD</p><p>Credits:<br/>"Pastel photoshoot": Davis Factor (1997)<br/>"Mafia vibes photoshoot": Ted &amp; Debbie (1990)<br/>The one where RDJ is all sprawled across a bed: Taylor Wood (2002)<br/>The one I used to make the fake "PlayGirl Magazin": Steven Klein (2000)<br/>The random one where RDJ is removing his shirt: Rodolfo Martinez (2006)<br/>The fake Rolling Stone Magazine and Forbes are from Iron Man (2008), so credits to Marvel</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In the end, everybody has learned their lesson.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I... Let's keep the author's note for the end, yeah? I will get emotional, so it will be better at the end.</p><p>For you know, <a href="https://www.robinhood.org/">Robin Hood</a> is a charity supporting vulnerable New Yorkers ,an organization focused on creating economic mobility for families in poverty Robert Downey Jr. is supporting in real life.</p><p>I am NOT the artist who did the wonderful arts I embed in this story, they're from <a href="https://petite-madame.tumblr.com/">Petite Madame on Tumblr</a> and that's why I didn't just post the pictures, but put a link to her blog.</p><p>Enjoy &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hum… F.R.I.D.A.Y. ? Do you… Do you really think it’s a good idea?”</p><p>
  <span>“I do, Doc, trust me; you won’t regret it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Uh, yes, Stephen would regret it. To be honest, Stephen was </span>
  <em>
    <span>already</span>
  </em>
  <span> regretting it. It seemed to be a pattern, these days: someone would say something stupid to him, he would open his big mouth and then he would drown in troubles. Classic. And you may believe that he would learn from his errors, but no, of course not. Stephen didn’t even think being this obstinate was one of his faults, nope, being a stubborn cheeky little shit had allowed him to defeat Dormammu, so…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anyway, this time, he swore he had learnt his lesson. A few months ago, when Tony had miraculously granted him his forgiveness, Stephen had sworn to the Vishanti he would never act before thinking again (and Tony had sworn he would never throw his money at Stephen as he did… We’ll see…), but, well… He also had sworn he wouldn’t let Wong roped him in his wobbling plans and… Maybe he should just stop swearing at once. It’s not that Stephen purposefully screwed his oaths, he really </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted </span>
  </em>
  <span>to follow them. But no one can deny Wong anything the man really want and, when Tony had told him, in a sensual and inviting purr, he would make Stephen see stars all night… Well, Stephen had laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Put away your tissues, they hadn’t fight because of it. And, thinking about it, it hadn’t been a thoughtless word from Stephen, now, he simply had thought his “old body” (his opinion, not Tony’s, not the writer’s one, lower your guns, please and thank you) wouldn’t be able of more than one orgasm. Not without magic. And Tony, with a toothy grin, had proposed a bet to him: either he fulfilled his promise and Stephen had the greatest night he ever had or the Sorcerer would have to make him his personal version of the PlayGirl magazine Tony had shot all those years ago. And wasn’t it the stupidest bet of all, really? Stephen would lose whatever happens! But he and his big mouth had agreed. So, here he is, naked, in Tony’s penthouse, being directed in his poses by F.R.I.D.A.Y., because, of course, he had lost the bet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on, Doc, it’s for a good cause!” the AI chirped joyfully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Stephen couldn’t even argue it wasn’t because, when it had been obvious the Sorcerer had lost his bet, stretched on grey silky sheets, satiated and basking in the afterglow, Tony had had a great idea. </span>
  <em>
    <span>The greatest idea of all time</span>
  </em>
  <span>, if you listened to him, and Stephen quite disagrees with that, but even him can’t deny it was – at least – a great one. Yup, looking at his boyfriend lounging in such a suggestive pose, proud and happy he had been able to please Stephen and giddy in advance about the marvellous photoshoot he would be graced with, Tony had tough it would really be selfish to keep such a sight to himself (don’t get him wrong, Tony Stark’s not a sharer, don’t touch Stephen, don’t think about touching Stephen, don’t even think about thinking to touch Stephen if you don’t want to have your head blasted out off your shoulders). The following day, first thing in the morning, the sketches were all ready: Stephen, if he agreed, would figure in the heroes equivalent version of the firefighters calendar, which would be sold to support <a href="https://www.robinhood.org/">Robin Hood Charity</a>. No, there was absolutely NO WAY Stephen could say “no”, even if he really had wanted to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thankfully, F.R.I.D.A.Y. is a great photograph (but she’s great in every field), and the session is over quickly. So, now that Stephen had done his good deed, everything he wanted was to go get dressed and… Well, whatever would not involve him naked, or just in a pair of boxer briefs, or being photographed. You know about it, by now, Stephen's wishes are rarely answered; and, indeed, as soon as the Sorcerer had left the lounge to put on some clothes, he heard F.R.I.D.A.Y. unlocking the front door and several voices filling the living room. Several </span>
  <em>
    <span>known </span>
  </em>
  <span>voices.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, how are we going to do that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No idea, mate, all I know is that it's Starks idea.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Speaking about Stark, where is he?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stuck in a meeting Potts drew him by the balls to, he will be late.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, but that doesn't tell me how we're going to know what to do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come ooon! It can't be this difficult, can it? You just… Look pretty and wait for it to be done.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Barton, shut it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This last one was from Steve Rogers, Stephen was sure about it. This was, by the way, everything he was sure about, right now. The Sorcerer threw on a dressing gown azaphardely on his way from his underwear drawer in the bedroom to the living area, ready to kick everyone out, but had to stop on the threshold of the living room. All the Avengers were almost naked in Tony’s penthouse. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What the freaking Hell?!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Oblivious to Strange’s puzzlement, Steven ran to him as soon as he’s been aware of his presence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, Doctor Strange, happy to see you're already there. As you can see, we're all ready.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sure. Sure, yeah, “ready” is my middle name, “Stephen Ready Strange”, no problem, I’m always ready. But ready to what, for the life of me, I couldn't say. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Thankfully, Romanov answered his question before he’d had the time to share his rising hysteria.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tony had talked all of us in his “Sexy Avengers Calendar” idea, he gave us carte blanche, or almost…” A deeply embarrassed Bruce Banner followed, “ ‘<a href="https://petite-madame.tumblr.com/post/611583051833769984/one-avenger-one-item-one-brand-naked-avengers">One Avenger, One</a> <a href="https://petite-madame.tumblr.com/post/611583076493148160/one-avenger-one-item-one-brand-naked-avengers">Brand, One Item</a>’, that's what he said, and that F.R.I.D.A.Y. Will take care of the rest, but...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But we needed someone to guide us, none of us is familiar with the world of the photography and, since it's for a great cause, we want to do it right. So… Will you help us?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well… Everybody deserves a second chance, isn't it?</span>
</p><p>
  <span class="u">
    <strong>The End.</strong>
  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <a href="https://zupimages.net/viewer.php?id=20/37/ld9d.jpg"></a>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So... This is the end of this journey... Thank you so much for accompanying me &lt;3 Thank you for your support, for your kindness and your ideas. Thank you for your enthusiasm, for all your comments and your kudos and, above everyhting, thank your for reading.</p><p>I never start to post a story before I finished it, that's why I started by telling you it would be around 8K, but, reading your comments and your ideas made me think I could do better, so I rewrite the last chapters and I think this end is really better than the previous one, thanks to you.</p><p>This is the longest story I ever posted and I'm proud of it, I love this story. I'm always afraid when I'm writing, when I'm editing and posting, I'm afraid it won't be good. Will I be able to finish it or did I get too ambitious? That's why I never post anything before it is finished, or I would be frozen by the fear. But all your support gave me strenght and some confidence. Thank you, I'll never say it enough.</p><p>I said this is the end of THIS journey, because Air NerdsLover will have several others to offer to you in the future (I won't say "in the near future" because I write at the pace of an asthmatic snail...), so I'm not telling you "see you next week" but "see you (as) soon (as possible)".</p><p>In the meanwhile, if you want to make some requests (or just say "hi") on <a href="https://i-m-sherlocked-twice.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a> and on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nerdslover/">Instagram</a> or below, in the comments, I always read everything and do my best to answer asap ^^ See you!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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